EOI Alcaiz

THATS ENGLISH!

To compare two equal things or people, we use: as + adjective + as He is as tall as his father A short adjective (cheap) and a long adjective (expensive) form their comparative and superlative in different ways: COMPARATIVE Short word Long word (cheap) (expensive) cheaper more expensive SUPERLATIVE the cheapest the most expensive

SHORT AND LONG ADJECTIVES - One-syllable adjectives (small, nice) have er/-est (smaller) But we use more/most before words ending in ed more tired - Two-syllable adjectives with er/-est

happy

happier

adjectives ending in consonant + y happy, pretty, heavy with er/-est or more/most narrow, common, pleasant, quiet, polite, clever, simple, gentle, cruel, stupid

with more/most adjectives ending in: -ful more useful -less more hopeless -ing more boring -ed more bored -ish more foolish others: correct, exact, certain, normal, frequent, recent, famous, modern, afraid, eager Three-syllable adjectives and longer ones have more/most:

Those girls are the most talkative of this class.

SPELLING There are some special spelling rules for the er and est endings: -e er/est large -consonant + y ier/iest pretty -adjectives ending in CONS+VOWEL+CONS big IRREGULAR FORMS Good/well better the best Bad/badly worse the worst Far farther/further the farthest/the furthest Much/many more the most Little less the least Old older/elder the oldest/the eldest (elder and the eldest are used with people in the same family)

larger prettier bigger

EOI Alcaiz

THATS ENGLISH!

COMPARING QUANTITIES We use more/most and their opposites less/the least (for uncountable words) or fewer/the fewest (for countable words) to compare quantities.

Im very busy these days. I have less free time than last year. There are fewer cars in this town than in Zaragoza.
COMPARATIVE SUPERIORITY EQUALITY INFERIORITY He looks older than you He looks as old as you * He looks less old than you He does not look as old as you group place

SUPERLATIVE

He is the oldest of this class He is the oldest in Aragn

OTHER STRUCTURES WITH THE COMPARATIVE - FASTER AND FASTER Used to say that something is increasing all the time:

Petrol goes up and up. It is more and more expensive.

THE FASTER THE BETTER Used to say that a change in one thing goes with a change in another.

The sooner, the better The younger the students, the louder they are.
TROUBLE SPOTS Watch your spelling: more that > more than Dont combine two ways of forming comparisons: the more bigger EXERCISE 1 Put the following adjectives in the correct column. Some adjectives can go in both categories. beautiful careful cheap comfortable common deep expensive fat friendly funny handsome high hollow late lovely loving lucky modern old old-fashioned sensitive serious shallow tragic young

-ER .. THAN

MORE ..THAN

EOI Alcaiz

THATS ENGLISH!

Who has the longest hair? Who is the tallest student? Who is the youngest student? Who studies the hardest? Who has the biggest family? Who's known their best friend the longest? Who's been keeping their pet the longest? Who's been doing their hobby the longest? Who's been playing a favourite sport the longest? Who has been going to school the longest? Who has been married the longest? Who can speak the most languages? Who has been studying English the longest? Who has had the longest hair? Who has been in the worst accident? Who has met the most famous person? Who has been to the biggest city? Who has been to the most cities? Who has spent the least money this week?